


First Kiss

by Bajillian



Category: One Piece
Genre: Aka Ashi no Zeff | Red-Leg Zeff - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Characters to be added, Feelings Realization, First Dates, First Kiss, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Franky (One Piece) - Freeform, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, Lack of Communication, Love Confessions, M/M, Mechanic Portgas D. Ace, Minor Koala/Sabo (One Piece), Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Portgas D. Ace and Vinsmoke Sanji Live Together, Practice Kissing, Secret Crush, eustass kid - Freeform, mild arguing, those three show up briefly but don't warrant a character tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-14 04:22:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29412579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bajillian/pseuds/Bajillian
Summary: Sanji reveals that he hasn't had his first kiss yet, so Ace offers to help. The plan seems simple enough, until a lack of communication makes things a little messy...Will it ruin their meaningful friendship?
Relationships: Portgas D. Ace & Sabo, Portgas D. Ace/Vinsmoke Sanji
Comments: 63
Kudos: 67





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I am very excited to be posting this! I absolutely adore Ace/Sanji, so I wanted to write a bit of a multichapter work for them. Let me know what you think! Kudos and comments are always appreciated! 💛  
> [tumblr](https://bajillianwrites.tumblr.com/)

“...And then Franky came in and told me to come out front to see the visitor we had, right? Turns out, there was a tiny little kitty playin’ all cute to all of our customers to get some food outta them. So I just _had_ to run to the store to get…” Ace trailed off when he realized Sanji wasn’t listening.

The cook had his chin in his hand, keeping him propped up on the kitchen table as he stared off into the distance. He had a little frown on his face and his other hand was fidgeting with his fork, moving the food on the plate in random patterns. There was definitely something on his mind, and it wasn’t the kitty visitor.

“...Sanji?” Ace tried softly, waving his hand.

“Hm?” Sanji shook his head and glanced back at Ace. He still looked a bit lost. “I’m listening.”

Ace raised an eyebrow, then leaned back and crossed his arms. He was eyeing the cook critically. “Oh yeah? What was the last thing I said?”

“You said my name.”

“Before that, smartass.”

“Something about working on a car.”

Ace chuckled. “I said that about five minutes ago, actually.” He stood up to walk to the fridge, but glanced over his shoulder briefly to look back at Sanji. “Somethin’ on your mind? And don’t say no. I can tell you’re… not bein’ yourself. You’re always goin’ off about not wasting food, and you’ve barely touched yours.”

Sanji sighed and set his fork down. He still couldn’t look at Ace, so he stared at his plate instead. Ace was right, there was barely a dent in the food. “I don’t… I don’t wanna talk about it,” he mumbled. “It’s… stupid.”

“Clearly not, if it’s botherin’ you that much,” Ace said. He grabbed a new water bottle from the fridge before he sat back down. “Plus, nothin’s too stupid to talk about with me. You can tell me whatever.”

Sanji was quiet. Thinking it over.

“What, are you crushin’ on another fine lady you’ve known for two seconds and she doesn’t like you back?” Ace joked.

Still quiet.

“Oh shit,” Ace said with his eyebrows raised. “Is that it?”

“No, that’s not _it,_ Ace.” Sanji huffed and sat back in his chair. He looked like a toddler rebelling against eating his dinner because his parent wouldn’t let him have dessert first.

“Then what is it?”

“You’re gonna laugh at me,” Sanji mumbled. He knew Ace was a really good listener and wasn’t the type to joke about stuff like this. But this felt like such a small problem and he was kind of wishing he’d been completely immature and stomped out of the room.

“I’m not gonna laugh at you,” Ace reassured. “No matter what it is. Promise.”

Sanji was quiet again, but after a few seconds, he mumbled something incoherent. His face went pink and he took to fidgeting with his shirt buttons instead.

“Come again?” Ace asked, moving closer. “You gotta speak up.”

“I _said_ …” Sanji let out an aggressive sigh. It was humiliating to have to repeat himself. “I haven’t… had my first kiss.”

Ace raised his eyebrows. As promised, he didn’t laugh or look like he was about to judge at all. In fact, he was surprised that was what had been bothering Sanji. “What got you thinkin’ about that?”

Sanji shrugged. “I don’t know, I…” Another sigh. He reached up to cover his face, too embarrassed to let Ace see him. “There were all these couples at the Baratie today, and they all were so in love and had people they could be all affectionate with, and I just started thinking a lot because I realized I never really had that, and I started to spiral, and it’s been all I could think about, and…” He took a fistful of his hair in each hand, but kept his face hidden. “Sorry. This is dumb.”

Ace shook his head before he put a careful hand on Sanji’s back. “It’s not dumb. I can understand how that’d upset you,” he said. His voice was soft, unusual from its loud volume. “But… I dunno, I’m sure you’ll get your first kiss eventually. It takes time sometimes.”

“I’m twenty-one years old, Ace,” Sanji said. 

“So what?” Ace asked, rubbing little circles in Sanji’s back now. “Plenty of people haven’t had their first kiss yet, and a lot of them are older than you.”

Sanji scoffed and gently smacked Ace’s hand away from him. “That’s easy for you to say. You’ve already had your first kiss,” he said. “And your second. And third. And more. You don’t have to worry about it. It’s so easy for you, all you have to do is walk into a bar and you’ve got all this attention.”

“I think the first kiss is overhyped anyway.”

“You don’t get to tell me that,” Sanji snapped back, lifting his head to finally look at Ace. “I’m tired of people saying that shit when they’ve already had the experience, whether it’s true or not. It just makes me feel fucking pathetic.”

Ace was a bit taken aback by that. It wasn’t often that the cook got angry with him, but he could tell he overstepped some line. “You’re right,” he said. “I should’ve been less… dismissive. But I understand that this is an upsettin’ topic for you, and I’m sorry.”

Sanji’s expression softened a little when he realized Ace wasn’t purposely trying to downplay his feelings. Still, he averted his gaze once again. “It doesn’t matter. Talking about it’s not gonna solve my problem anyway, so I should just shut up and move on. But no, I gotta mope around and feel sorry for myself,” he said. “I just wish I could… get it over with and not have to worry about it.”

Ace hummed. He wanted to help and thought up an idea that would solve the problem, but he wasn’t sure how Sanji was going to take it. It was worth a shot. “What if I kissed you?”

“...Excuse me?”

“Y’know, so you could get it over with,” Ace said. “I could kiss you, and then you can say you’ve had your first kiss.”

Sanji blinked. “Ace, I don’t like you that way. We’re best friends.”

“So?” Ace smiled. “You don’t gotta like me any more than that. We could have a platonic kiss. Doesn’t need to mean anythin’ other than that if you don’t want it to.”

Sanji was staring at Ace, the gears in his brain turning as he processed the words. It wasn’t… a bad idea. It was tempting, even. Maybe this was his chance to break through this wall. Open himself up to new opportunities. 

“Can I… think about it and get back to you?” he asked. 

“Yeah, ‘course,” Ace said with a nod. “Take all the time you need. It doesn’t have to be right away, I’m just lettin’ you have the option.”

Sanji nodded slowly. “I… appreciate it.” He reached for his fork and cleared his throat. It was time to change the topic, he thought. He didn’t want to dwell on this any longer than he had to. “You should continue the story you were telling me before, when I got distracted.”

Ace perked up. “Alright, lemme start from the beginning.”

The rest of dinner was spent by Ace telling Sanji about his day at work while the cook ate in silence. He was still a bit distracted by his racing thoughts, but he tried to pay more attention this time. He didn’t want to be rude.

Once the two had finished eating, Sanji excused himself to his room for the rest of the night; something about getting an early start on his sleep. But he knew damn well he was not going to rest that easily. He just needed to get some time to himself.

The moment he closed his bedroom door behind him, all of his jittery energy came out at once.

He wiggled his hands and arms, shook his head, and bounced on his feet. There was so much he was feeling, and all of that nervous energy was radiating to every part of his body. Of course, it wouldn’t stop his brain from running at one thousand miles per hour, but it helped a little. When he stopped bouncing, he bent one leg at a time and tapped his toes on the ground a couple of times. It was a much calmer approach now that the initial hidden energy had finally been released.

Okay. _Okay._ One thought at a time, Sanji.

He would’ve preferred to go in the chronological order his thought process had taken him throughout the day, but the one thought that was louder than the rest completely ignored what he wanted.

Ace had offered to kiss him.

Not only that, he was so casual about it. Like, _“Hey, Sanji. How was your day? What if I kissed you?”_ So why did he himself feel like this was an incredibly big deal? To be fair, it kind of was. 

He had never kissed anyone. Ever. What if he fucked it up? What if he was so bad at kissing, that even sharing a terrible _platonic_ kiss with Ace would destroy their friendship? ...No, Ace would never hate him over something like that. But that still didn’t stop him from being terrified of not being a good kisser.

Was there a window to learning how to kiss? There wasn’t one, right? After all, it was just… smooshing your lips together with someone else’s. And then, like, actually moving your lips and getting your tongue involved, and…

Sanji hadn’t even realized he’d started pacing the room enough to nearly make footstep-shaped holes in the carpet. He only noticed when he almost tripped over his own two feet.

He needed a cigarette.

He walked over to his dresser to grab his lighter and a cigarette from the box before he made his way over to the window. Once it was opened, he climbed through and took a seat on the roof so he could puff with a view of the night sky. Maybe it would clear his mind, even a little, to hopefully grant him peace and allow him to sleep tonight.

Meanwhile, Ace was still downstairs replaying the conversation he’d had with Sanji in his mind. _“What if I kissed you?”_ As casual as he was at the time of asking the question, he couldn’t help feeling antsy. Sure, the intention was to help his best friend feel a little better by offering a solution, but he was suddenly super aware of the crush he’d gotten on Sanji that he had tucked away for a later date, or possibly never.

Definitely never.

Sanji had even said he didn’t like Ace that way. They were best friends, and they wouldn’t be anything more. If only he could’ve fallen in love with someone else so at least if they didn’t return the feelings, he didn’t have to live with them and see them everyday. 

He made his way upstairs so he could start getting ready for bed and try to clear his mind. The second his head hit the pillow, he was out like a light and blissfully unaware that Sanji was still awake across the hall. It seemed the cook wasn’t going to rest too long that night.

Still, that didn’t mean Sanji wasn’t on Ace’s sleepy mind. Some time during the night, he started dreaming about a possible scenario where the two were sitting on the couch, facing each other.

_“Are you sure about this?” he asked._

_Sanji nodded. “I’m sitting here, aren’t I? Just kiss me already, Ace.”_

_He leaned forward, but as quickly as his lips touched Sanji’s, they were gone. When he pulled back to get a look, the blond had a horrified expression on his face._

_“We can’t do this.”_

_“What?” Ace asked. “Why not?”_

_“It’ll ruin our friendship.” Sanji stood up and started walking away. “I have to go.”_

_“Wait, where are you going??” Ace tried to stand, but he couldn’t move. It was like he was cemented to the couch. “Sanji? Sanji!!”_

Ace jolted up into a sitting position on his bed. His heart was pounding and his breaths were shaky. It took him a moment to process that it’d only been a nightmare, and though he didn’t think Sanji would react like that… what if it _did_ ruin their friendship? What if he’d somehow fuck up Sanji’s first kiss?

He shook his head and reached for his phone. 6:28 AM. It was definitely way too early for him to be awake, but he knew Sanji wouldn’t be up for another hour. Maybe he could eat something, calm his subconscious, and then try to go back to sleep.

With a sigh, he set his phone back down and stood up from the bed. Even if he wasn’t going to encounter anyone else, he figured he’d better put on boxers just in case. 

...And he was glad he did because he nearly crashed into Sanji the second he stepped foot into the kitchen.

“Woah!” Sanji quickly stepped aside to avoid smashing a pan of omelette into Ace’s bare chest. A burn wound would not be a pleasant way to start the day.

Ace flinched, but seemed to calm down pretty quickly. “Sorry for scarin’ you,” he mumbled. “What’re you doin’ up this early?”

Sanji shrugged and made his way over to the table so he could safely plate his omelette. Even while tired, he managed to achieve some quality presentation. “Couldn’t sleep. What about you? I know you’re not the type to willingly wake up before 11.”

“Had a nightmare.” Ace rubbed his eyes before looking down at the omelette. His stomach growled. 

“Oh, do you want me to make you something? It’s still hot, so it shouldn’t take too long.” Sanji offered him a little smile as he set the pan back on the stove. His hair was lightly tousled - a rare sight, but he was probably too tired to keep up with his usual neat appearance.

Fuck. He was adorable.

“I think I’m just gonna have some cereal,” Ace said, quickly turning around to hide his blush and grab a bowl from the cabinet. If he would have known offering to be a first kiss was going to affect him like this, he might’ve thought about it for a little longer. “Thanks, though.”

“Alright.” Sanji sat down so he could enjoy his own food, and he savored the first bite before he spoke again. “What was your nightmare about?”

A clang sounded, followed by Ace cursing under his breath. His spoon had dropped to the floor, but he was quick to pick it up and place it into the sink so he could grab a new one. “Uh… I can’t remember,” he lied. “Just woke up knowin’ I had one, y’know?”

Sanji hummed, then continued to eat his food.

When Ace sat down at the table, he avoided looking up at the other man as he ate in silence. The only sounds came from silverware hitting ceramic. It was awkward. Usually, the two would be talking nonstop, but they seemed to be on the same page with not wanting to bring up the real reason as to why they were both unable to sleep. 

Ace finished eating first, which wasn’t much of a surprise. While Sanji took his time, he was known to practically inhale his food. “I’m gonna try to sleep some more,” he said as he stood. “I gotta be at work by 12:30, and I don’t wanna be sleepin’ on the job.” He set his bowl in the sink and put away the cereal box. 

Sanji nodded. “I don’t think Franky would appreciate that.”

“Yeah, I’ve already gotten in trouble for it more than once,” Ace said. “But you know that story. Anyway. I’ll see you later. Tell Zeff I say hi.”

Sanji gave a thumbs up before Ace made his way back to his bedroom. It took him another few hours, but he managed to get to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ace decides to talk about the situation with Sabo, while Sanji prepares by researching how to kiss.

“Good morning.” Sanji entered the kitchen and walked over to the sink to wash his hands. He’d managed to stop thinking about Ace enough to be able to concentrate on his job, since he knew getting distracted would be a recipe for disaster.

Zeff, the owner of the restaurant and father figure to the blond, looked up and smiled. “Sanji, before you get started, could you serve wine to the customers as they come in?” he asked before returning to his work.

“Sure, I can do that,” Sanji said with a nod. Though he wasn’t a waiter, they had been a little short on staff lately, so he was more than happy to help out. 

Once he dried his hands, he reached for the bottle and headed out of the kitchen. The place had a decent amount of people seated already, so the room was filled with chatter. He knew how to turn on the charm as he offered the wine to each table, and made sure to pour the ladies a little more. 

There were tables filled with groups of friends, but some had couples on dates. He hadn’t expected to avoid it completely. Despite successfully not getting distracted, he found that one of the couples looked vaguely like him and Ace. Still, he smiled and offered them some wine.

As he poured, his mind filled with similar thoughts he’d had last night. It wasn’t until one of the men made a noise of surprise that he realized he’d started over-filling the glass.

“I am so sorry about that, sir,” Sanji said now that he was focused again. He tried to keep a calm exterior while internally cursing himself for being a fucking idiot. “Let me clean that up. Did any of it get on you?” Luckily, it hadn’t spilled too much, so the man was clean. Maybe it was best he stayed in the kitchen for today.

* * *

“Ace.”

Ace’s head snapped up as he jolted awake. He was standing in front of the hood of the car he was supposed to be working on, but he must’ve started to doze off in the middle of it. When he turned his head, he saw his red-headed coworker looking at him with a concerned expression. “Oh. Uh… sorry. M’awake.”

Kid raised an eyebrow and gave Ace a pat on the shoulder. “You alright, man? Thought you were gonna faceplant into that engine like the last time.”

Ace nodded. “Yeah, fine.” He yawned. “Just fuckin’ exhausted, though.”

Kid chuckled. “Not sure how safe that is here. Maybe Franky’ll let’chya nap or something.” He walked back over to the other car that he was working on before he’d noticed Ace.

“Honestly, I might just ask to go home early,” Ace said as he set his wrench down. “You think you can take over for me?”

“You got it.”

“Thanks. I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

Ace made his way to Franky’s office, where the man was tinkering with his prosthetic arm. He gave a gentle knock to the door as a warning.

Franky looked up and smiled. “Hey, lil’bro,” he said, then looked right back down to continue working on his arm. It seemed he was always working on it, whether it needed repairs or he was adding a new feature that he definitely didn’t have to put on it. “Need somethin’?”

Ace watched Franky work.“Is it alright if I head home early? Kid said he’d finish the car I was workin’ on, but I’m not feelin’ great and I don’t wanna hurt myself or break somethin’ from fallin’ asleep,” he said. “I can take an extra shift to make up for it.”

Franky nodded. “Sure. Is everything okay?” He looked up again to study the man’s expression carefully. His employees were like family to him on top of him being their boss, so it was only natural that he would be concerned.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just exhausted,” Ace said. 

“And you’re alright to drive? ‘Cause I could get someone to give you a ride.”

Ace waved his hand. “Nah, I’ll be fine. It’s, like, a five-minute drive.” 

Franky nodded again and offered him a smile. “Okay! I’ll see you on Monday, then,” he said before he got back to work. “Stay safe.”

“Thanks, big bro.”

As expected, the drive home wasn’t too long. The moment Ace made it through the door, he dropped his bag, shed his uniform, and collapsed onto the couch. He reached for his phone to text someone he knew was often a big help when he was feeling like he needed some guidance: Sabo.

Sabo 🐲  
  
hey are you busy today? i wanna talk about somethin with you  
oh no. what trouble have you gotten into this time?  
i’m not in trouble I just want your advice  
haha, I’m just busting your chops. 😉  
wait, aren’t you supposed to be at work?  
i almost fell asleep on a car again  
😬 I’m free, though. what time’s good for you?  
maybe 1 bc sanji will be at work  
this is really sounding like you’re in trouble. 🤔  
shut up  
😂 see you later.  


Ace sighed and decided it’d be best for him to take a nap. He wouldn’t have an issue _getting_ to sleep, but he knew himself well enough that he set a couple of alarms to be awake a little before 1 PM. Sabo would kick his ass if he made him wait outside of the house for an hour. ...Again.

He woke up, not to the sound of the alarms, but to the doorbell ringing. Shit. Shit, shit, _shit._ He’d slept through when he was supposed to wake up.

“One sec!” he called to the door as he rushed to his bedroom, nearly tripping over his own two feet on the way. Sabo probably wouldn’t mind if he was just in his underwear, but he still wanted to be at least somewhat decent. He managed to keep his footing as he put on pants and rushed back to the door. He was out of breath.

“I was out there for an hour, you know,” was the first thing Sabo said. He was holding two boxes of pizza and a bottle of root beer.

“Fuck, I’m so sorry. I was takin’ a nap, and I even made sure to set two alarms, but I must’a slept through--”

Sabo snickered and gave Ace a pat on the shoulder as he stepped inside. “I’m fucking with you,” he said. “I got here a little earlier than planned, but I figured you wouldn’t mind me bringing lunch.”

Ace let out a sigh of relief, despite wanting to kick the shit out of his brother for scaring him. He closed the door and motioned for him to follow as he walked to the kitchen. He made sure to grab his phone on the way so he could turn off the alarms. 

“I guess that’s payback for the time I actually left you outside for an hour,” he said as he grabbed a couple plates from the cabinet.

Sabo set the food down on the table and pulled out a seat. He grabbed a slice of pizza once he had a plate. “There you go, now we’re even.” He took a big bite. “I got two meat lover’s pies, so eat all you want.” 

“Thanks. I appreciate it.” Ace grabbed a couple glasses before he finally sat down to grab his own slice. There was a bit of silence while the two enjoyed their first couple bites.

“So… what did you need to talk about?” Sabo asked, not bothering to finish chewing the food still in his mouth.

Ace, however, decided he’d better swallow before talking. It was a pretty important conversation to him, and he didn’t want to downplay it by making it casual. “I, um… Well, first I need you to promise to keep this between us.”

“Sure,” Sabo said with a nod. “You know I’m good at keeping secrets.”

Ace nodded. “So, one of my friends, he… he was real bummed yesterday ‘cause he hasn’t had his first kiss yet,” he began, choosing to keep it vague. Sabo and Sanji were friends, and he wasn’t sure if Sanji wanted Ace to give away all of his personal information. “And I offered to be his first kiss, just platonically so he could get it over with.” He averted his gaze. “I’m just scared it’s gonna ruin our friendship.”

Sabo raised an eyebrow. “Why do you think it’s gonna ruin your friendship? It’s just a kiss that you don’t mean anything by.”

“I know that, but…” Ace sighed. “I just don’t want things to get weird between us, y’know? I already have feelin’s for him, and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t like me back that way.”

“Wait.”

Ace looked back up at Sabo. “What?”

“Is this ‘friend’ of yours Sanji?”

Ace blushed. Right, he’d forgotten that he’d told Sabo about his crush on Sanji a while ago. “...Okay, yes, it is,” he said, “but you can’t say anythin'. He was really stressed about this whole thing and I had to pull the information out of him.”

“Ace, it’s fine,” Sabo said with a chuckle. “I told you I’m not going to say a word.” He took another bite of his pizza. “You really offered to kiss him, even though you’re crushing on the guy?”

“Do you think it was a bad idea?” Ace asked with a frown.

Sabo took a moment to think about that before he shrugged. “Nah, I think it’s nice of you to help him feel safe while he’s feeling vulnerable,” he said. “I think you two will be fine. As long as you’re okay with him not wanting anything more than a friendship. I don’t wanna have to kick his ass for breaking my brother’s heart over a pre-relationship that wasn’t going to be a relationship to begin with.”

Ace gently smacked Sabo’s arm, earning a snicker. “This is serious, Sabo.” He set his pizza down. “It’s fine if he doesn’t like me back, as long as we can go back to bein’ normal afterwards.”

“You’re worrying over nothing.” Sabo finished his first slice and reached for his second. “I honestly don’t think Sanji would drop a meaningful friendship over a kiss that he agreed to. Your intentions are good.”

“I guess so,” Ace mumbled. He fidgeted with his napkin, too nervous to eat. “Have you ever kissed anyone and it was their first kiss?”

Sabo nodded. “Yeah, Koala,” he said with a smile. The way his face lit up any time he talked about her was cute. It was as if he was reliving the moment just by the mere mention of it.

“And how’d it go?”

“Well, she’s my girlfriend now, so I’d say it went pretty well,” Sabo said with a little laugh. “She was an adorable, nervous wreck. The kiss itself was kinda clunky, but… I don’t know, I think that’s to be expected.”

“Yeah.” 

Sabo studied Ace’s expression carefully. He could tell his brother was nervous, which was kind of hilarious since he was usually so confident. Still, he didn’t say it out loud to avoid being insensitive. “Ace. It’s just a kiss,” he said. “Really, it’ll be fine.”

Ace picked his pizza back up again, then jumped when he heard the door opening. In walked Sanji, who looked surprised that Ace was also back home (and had brought a guest).

“Hey,” he said, avoiding eye contact with Ace. “What are you doing home early?”

“Nearly fell asleep on the job,” Ace said. “What ‘bout you? Why are _you_ home early?”

Sanji busied himself by going to the fridge to get something to eat. “I was… a bit distracted today,” he said. “I spilled wine on a customer, and then accidentally broke a plate. The old geezer was not happy.” He pulled out a bottle of water and a bowl of fruit salad that he’d made the night before, then gave a nod to Sabo.

“Yo,” Sabo said with a wave. “You’re more than welcome to take some pizza.”

Sanji shook his head. “Thanks, but I’m not really that hungry. I’m just gonna bring this up to my room and relax.” He grabbed a fork and began his journey to the stairs. “It was nice seeing you again, Sabo.”

“You, too!” Sabo gave Ace an eyebrow wiggle, which earned him another arm slap. Their conversation would have to continue another time when Sanji didn’t have the potential to eavesdrop.

* * *

Sanji closed his bedroom door behind him and set his food down on his nightstand. He was too distracted to eat, but he figured he should at least snack on something at some point. He reached for his laptop and searched for sites that would tell him how to kiss. He’d even grabbed his headphones to watch some videos - some of which he had to re-watch after getting distracted by imagining the two people being him and Ace.

It seemed simple enough, but researching helped to put him more at ease. Somehow, he felt more prepared. When he came across a wikihow article that gave a couple of techniques to use as practice, he clicked on it. The last two options included a whole fruit or another person, but the first technique was something he could do: using his hand as makeshift lips.

He followed the directions to position his hands in a way that he could use them, then looked at what he was working with. No one was watching him or knew he was doing this, but he couldn’t help feeling a bit silly. He shook his head. Plenty of people practiced this way. He wasn’t the only one who had stumbled upon this technique.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and leaned in. It felt… strange. His brain knew they weren’t lips, but he tried to push those thoughts aside and practice with different pressures and movements. At one point, he tried adding some tongue, but the taste of his own skin brought him out of the immersion, so he decided to forgo that for now. They weren’t going to be kissing that way, anyway.

That didn’t stop his cheeks from going warm at the thought of feeling Ace’s tongue against his. He wondered what it felt like.

No.

He pulled away from the ‘kiss’ to shake those thoughts away. This was a kiss between two _friends,_ and nothing more.

When he leaned back in, he imagined a pretty girl this time. Something more familiar to his fantasies. It helped him get more into it, but he found his mind wandering back to Ace. Frustrated, he set his hands back down and closed the tabs he’d been using to research. That was enough practice for now.

Time for some fruit salad.

He managed to finish it by the time he heard Ace and Sabo walking to the front door. When he snuck a glance through the blinds to watch Sabo pull out of the driveway and disappear down the road, he decided it was his chance to make his move.

Ace was just closing the door when Sanji made it down the stairs, and he turned around to give him a smile. “Hey,” he said. 

Sanji smiled back, though they both looked nervous. “Hey,” he said. “Did you wanna… um. I think I’m ready. You know, for… for you to kiss me.”

Ace’s smile faded and he stuffed his hands into his pockets as his gaze dropped to the floor. His body language made Sanji’s heart speed up so fast, he could feel it pounding in his ears. And if that wasn’t enough, Ace’s verbal response made him feel even worse.

“Oh.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ace explains why he's so hesitant to kiss Sanji. The two agree to remain friends, but Sanji's feelings have a different plan in mind.

Sanji stared at Ace for what felt like an eternity as he waited for some kind of explanation. When he didn’t get one, he figured he’d better ask. “What do you mean by ‘oh’?” he asked. Though, he kind of knew the answer. This was a huge mistake. 

Ace shrugged. “I don’t know, I just… I don’t think I should’ve offered to kiss you,” he said. He still didn’t want to look up at the blond. “I’m sorry if you’re disappointed, but I can’t do it.”

Sanji frowned and tried not to blow up on Ace. Even if he felt hurt and frustrated for his own personal reasons, it wasn’t like he was going to force Ace to kiss him. “Is there a reason why you suddenly changed your mind?” he asked quietly, trying not to let his voice break.

Ace cringed a little. He knew he’d upset Sanji, but it felt like the better option than risking their entire friendship. “I don’t want to kiss you.”

Sanji shook his head and crossed his arms. Don’t cry. Don’t cry. “I don’t understand,” he said. “Why would you… offer to kiss me if you didn’t want to in the first place?”

“I did want to.”

“But you just said you don’t want to.”

“Because I changed my mind, Sanji!” Ace snapped. He hadn’t meant to get mad, and it wasn’t that he was mad at Sanji. He was just afraid. When he finally looked up at Sanji and saw the look on his face, he immediately wished he could take it back.

Sanji was quiet as he stared at the ground, clearly holding back tears. He didn’t like being so vulnerable, and after he had been with Ace, this felt like a punch to the stomach. “Fine.” He turned around to run up the stairs.

“Wait, Sanji--”

“I wanna be alone!”

Sanji slammed the door behind him and reached for his packet of cigarettes. The tears were already running down his cheeks, but he didn’t care at this point. He opened the window to sit at his favorite spot on the roof. It was a little chilly out, but the sun hadn’t set yet and it helped a little.

He lit the cigarette and took a puff.

On top of everything else, he felt really pathetic about throwing a tantrum over something as simple as a kiss. Maybe it wasn’t a big deal to Ace, but it sucked to be mere inches away from reaching something he’d been so self-conscious about for years.

He used his free hand to cover his face before he let loose and started crying, letting the tension that’d built up since yesterday melt away.

Ace was still standing in the same spot that Sanji had left him in. He was frozen, feeling like such an asshole once he realized what he’d done. Even after Sabo had reassured him that everything was going to be okay, he’d just gotten so… scared. He didn’t expect Sanji to be ready so soon. Then again, this wasn’t Sanji’s fault.

He should’ve explained himself instead of keeping it so vague and making it sound like he didn’t want to kiss Sanji for whatever reason the blond had come up with in his mind. And fuck, he wanted to kiss Sanji. So bad.

Ten minutes passed before Ace started his way up the stairs. He wanted to give both himself and Sanji some time to calm down so he could think of what he wanted to say. His anxiety yelled at him to turn back around, wait until tomorrow. That wasn’t what Sanji deserved, so he pushed on.

When he knocked on Sanji’s bedroom door, there was hesitation before the owner answered.

“What?”

The word came out so stern, and it didn’t help Ace feel any better about the situation.

“Is it okay if I come in?” Ace asked. “I feel like we should… talk about things.”

More hesitation. Then, “Fine.”

Ace opened the door, but wasn’t surprised to see Sanji sitting on the roof. He knew it was his safe space where he often went when he was stressed and needed to collect himself again. Ace carefully made his way through the window to sit beside Sanji, and neither man spoke for a good minute. He could feel his heart pounding with each passing second.

Thump.  
Thump.  
Thump.

“I wanted to, um…” Ace picked at a loose thread on his shorts, keeping his eyes on that instead of the person he was talking to. “You don’t have to forgive me right away ‘cause I made a really shitty move, but I still wanted to say that I’m really sorry for taking back my offer,” he said. “I should’ve… started with this, but the reason was not ‘cause I don’t wanna kiss you.”

Sanji puffed on his cigarette as he listened, but looked up when he heard the last part. “Then… why? Why else would you say that?”

Ace took a deep breath and looked back at Sanji. The eye contact made the conversation a little more scary, but he didn’t want to be talking to his shorts the whole time. He could tell Sanji had been crying by the way the red lingered on his eyes and nose. “I was afraid that I was gonna somehow ruin your first kiss, or that… or that it would ruin our friendship,” he said. “I mean, I guess I almost did that just now.”

Sanji studied his face carefully. After the rollercoaster of emotions, he couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle. “What are you talking about?” he asked. “How would either of those things happen? I’m not gonna hate you because of a kiss, whether it’s good or not. I literally have no basis for that kind of thing.”

Ace averted his gaze. He wasn’t sure how to tell Sanji that he had a crush on him and had thought about them kissing for a while now. Even with the reassurance, the initial fear still existed. “I guess when you say it out loud, it does seem kinda dumb.”

Sanji put out his cigarette so he could lean back on his hands. “Listen, I’m nervous, too,” he said. “But you said it yourself, it’s just a platonic kiss. It doesn’t have to mean anything more than that.” 

“Yeah,” Ace said with a nod. He looked back up at Sanji. “Promise we can just go back to bein’ normal once we get it over with, and it won’t ruin our friendship?”

Sanji smiled. “Promise.”

Ace nodded again. “Good.”

The awkward silence was back, as neither man knew how to go from a serious conversation to a friendly kiss between two bros. When it became too much to bear, Ace continued to speak.

“Did you wanna do that now, then?”

Sanji cleared his throat. As ready as he had been earlier, he was still really nervous. “Yeah, sure,” he said. “What should I… Where do my hands go?”

Ace scooted closer and shrugged. He tried not to show how incredibly giddy he felt inside. “Wherever you want, I don’t mind,” he said. He placed his own hand on the side of Sanji’s face. “Is this okay?” He could’ve sworn he saw Sanji’s pupils dilate.

“Yeah, it’s fine,” Sanji said. After a moment of thought, he decided to rest both hands on Ace’s shoulders. It felt awkward, but he wasn’t really sure where else to put them for a friendly kiss. “Is _this_ okay?”

Ace smiled. “As long as you’re comfortable, then wherever is fine,” he said. “Just… relax. Don’t be so tense.” It was a little hypocritical of him to say, but he still wanted to calm his kissing partner. “Ready?”

Sanji nodded and closed his eyes.

When he felt Ace’s lips on his, he tensed again, but didn’t pull away. It felt… nice. He wasn’t really sure what else he expected, but it made his heart flutter in his chest and his face get warm. Was he doing it correctly? He couldn’t tell, but he was still enjoying himself. 

His eyes were still closed when Ace slowly pulled back, and he’d be lying if he said he was disappointed that it was over. There was a warm feeling in his chest that hadn’t been there before. It was different than the fleeting crushes he would have on the pretty girls at the grocery store registers. 

Ah.

“Sanji?”

The blond opened his eyes when he remembered that he wasn’t alone. The sun shone on Ace in a way that made him look like an angel, and Sanji nearly melted at how the freckles on his face danced when his lips curled up into a smile. He wanted to feel those lips again.

“I didn’t suck out your voice box, did I?” Ace tried again with an awkward little chuckle.

Sanji blinked. “No, no, I’m good.” _Only incredibly distracted because I think I just fell in love with you,_ he thought. He wouldn’t say that out loud, though. How could he, after he promised that they would go back to being friends? “Thanks for… helping me.”

“No problem. If you ever need to practice kissin’ some more, you know who to call,” Ace said. It was a damn bold move, and he wasn’t sure how obvious it would make his feelings, but he couldn’t help making the offer.

Sanji’s face went beet red and he forced out a chuckle. “Sure, man.” He glanced behind him, then gestured inside. “I should probably, um… It’s getting kinda cold, and I wanna call the old man to apologize again for what happened, so…” It seemed he couldn’t decide on a fake excuse to get the fuck out of there. 

“Yeah, of course,” Ace said with a nod. He wouldn’t have minded cuddling with Sanji to warm him up, but he didn’t want to push it. His bold-move-quota had already been fulfilled. “I think I’m gonna nap again.”

Sanji nodded and climbed back inside, Ace following behind him. Once the two were through, Sanji closed the window.

“There’s still some pizza left if you want any.” Ace shoved his hands into his pockets. “I’ll probably have dinner after I sleep.”

Sanji nodded again. “Alright.” He shifted on his feet. “Well… goodnight.”

“Goodnight?” Ace raised an eyebrow. “The sun hasn’t even set yet.”

“I know, but I’ll probably be asleep by the time you wake up.” No other reason. Not because he wanted to stay away from Ace while he gathered his thoughts. No, sir.

“Fair enough.” Ace supposed he wasn’t sure what else two people were supposed to do after something like this, but he kind of wished they could’ve talked more about it. “Goodnight, then.” He gave a little nod before he stepped out of the room.

As soon as the door closed and Sanji was sure that Ace had walked away, he sunk to the floor and took a deep breath. Okay. So what if you just fell in love with your best friend who _just_ wants to be friends? Sometimes that just happens, right? Or maybe he was misinterpreting the good feeling of finally kissing someone with a crush. That had to have been it, because there was no way he could see himself getting out of this other than revealing his feelings to Ace.

He would’ve known by now if Ace liked him any more than a best friend. Ace was pretty open about his feelings, especially those kinds. So he just had to settle with the fact that he was feeling this way and nothing was going to be done about it. It would just have to go away on its own.

...There was no harm in thinking back to the kiss, was there? He was already in this feeling hell, so what was wrong with just riding it until he could go back to normal?

Ace’s lips had been really soft. He was so gentle. He _cared_ about not pushing too far or being overwhelming, and that thought alone made Sanji feel butterflies in his stomach. He closed his eyes and replayed the memory. If only the kiss had gone on for longer, if only he had said he needed more practice in that moment. Sure, Ace offered to help some more, but he was known to joke around and flirt with anyone, even if he wasn’t interested in pursuing a relationship with them.

Then, there was a familiar tightness in his pants.

That’s when his eyes shot open and he suddenly felt really dirty. He wasn’t going to get off on the kiss between him and his best friend. That was so… wrong.

Right?

He shook his head. Maybe he could take a cold shower and wash the thoughts from his mind. Very quietly, he opened his door and peeked out. When he saw that Ace’s door was closed, he tiptoed past and locked himself in the bathroom.

Ace, meanwhile, was jumping up and down in his room. He has so much excited energy in him and he didn’t know what to do with it. His plan was to take another nap, but there was no way he could get to sleep like this. His entire mind was filled with Sanji, how his lips felt, the way he looked when he pulled back…

The man was an angel.

He reached into his drawer to change into different clothes so he could go out on a run and hopefully tire himself out enough to nap. Once he had his key and a nice playlist to run to, he was off.

Sanji didn’t take too long in the shower, since the cold water wasn’t exactly pleasant. He assumed Ace was asleep by now, since it didn’t take long for the man to get knocked out, and the closed door was a good sign that he wouldn’t get caught if he went down for some dinner. After he put on some comfortable pajamas, he made his way to the kitchen.

He had a long day, so he could afford to just warm up some leftover pizza instead of making a gourmet meal. While he waited, he looked down at his phone and thought about who he could talk to about this. Who would be the least likely to judge him?

Ah. That would be Ace.

But who after Ace? He was pretty close to Luffy, but would it be weird to bring this up with the man’s younger brother? Maybe he could bribe Luffy to keep his big mouth shut with some food.

He brought the now warm pizza to the kitchen table so he could start eating, then started typing out a text.

Luf  
  
Hey.  
yo!  
If I come over with food tomorrow, will you let me talk to you about something personal?  
lol u dont need to bribe me with food  
but yes  
make sure u bring the food tho  
Sure thing. See you around lunchtime.  


Ace didn’t have to run for that long for his body to tell him it was time to go back home. He considered himself pretty fit, but after the day he’d had, he was ready to collapse in his bed. He’d even managed to calm his thoughts… until he started to come up to his house and a song came up on shuffle, one that reminded him of a certain blond.

_Boy,  
You’ve taken up my thoughts.  
You tie my heart in knots.  
I’ll let you call the shots._

He figured he could just leave it on, since Sanji would probably be in his room anyway. Except he wasn’t when Ace walked through the door - the man in question looked up at him from the kitchen table.

_Want you to kiss me in the kitchen,_  
_Want you to take me on your tabletop._  
_Want you to kiss me in the kitchen..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song playing is [kitchen by Zach Benson!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCnfZxA5kSg)  
> 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ace gets worried when Sanji starts avoiding him, so Sabo comes up with a plan.

Ace yanked the earbuds out of his ears and quickly paused the song as he offered Sanji a nervous smile. Play it cool. Pretend like you weren’t just listening to a song about the man you’re in love with kissing you in the kitchen, and then walking in on the man while he’s in the kitchen. “Oh, hey. I didn’t expect you to be eatin’ already.”

Sanji nodded. “And I didn’t expect you to be out,” he said. It was a good thing he already finished his pizza because now was a good time to head back to his room. “I thought you were sleeping.”

“Well, I decided to go for a run before that. Had a bit of the jitters,” Ace said. He wrapped his earbud wire around his phone and put it into his pocket. Then, he went to the fridge for some water. “Speakin’ of which, did you wanna talk more about… before?”

Sanji stood and threw out his garbage. “I’d prefer to get to bed, actually,” he said. He was looking everywhere but Ace. “I’m really tired.”

Ace closed the fridge door and furrowed his brow. “Did you wanna talk about it tomorrow?”

“Maybe,” Sanji lied. “Goodnight again.”

Ace studied him carefully. He could tell something was up, but he didn’t want to push it. “Um… alright. Night.”

Sanji barely let Ace finish the word before he disappeared up the stairs. He knew it was immature and he couldn’t just avoid Ace forever, but he really didn’t want to deal with this right now. He needed to go to bed. For real, this time.

His alarm woke him up pretty early after a surprisingly undisturbed sleep. He felt way better than yesterday, if you didn’t count the replaying memory of what he’d done with Ace yesterday. Luckily, though, he could make some food and be out of the house before Ace would usually wake up.

He decided to make a simple steak dish this time, since Luffy wasn’t that hard to impress, as well as a smaller portion in case Sabo was home. He packed it all up safely and was out the door without being noticed.

Sabo was the one who answered the door. He was used to seeing Sanji coming over, so he didn’t question it and let the man in. “Hey, is Ace not tagging along this time?” he asked. 

Sanji walked inside, then tensed. “Actually, can you not tell him I’m here?”

 _Now_ Sabo was confused. “Why not?” he asked. He raised his eyebrows, thinking back to what he’d talked about with Ace yesterday. Had it actually gone wrong? “Is everything okay between you two?”

“Yeah,” Sanji answered way too quickly. Maybe he could change the subject. “I made Luffy some steak, but I also made some for you, too. I could just leave it in the kitchen for now.”

Sabo wasn’t buying it, but he decided not to push it for now. “Sure. Luffy’s up in his room, so make yourself at home.”

Sanji nodded as he put Sabo’s portion on the kitchen table and then made his way up the stairs. He was starting to regret coming here, but pushed on anyway.

Luffy was sitting at his desk playing some Minecraft on his laptop, but he paused and looked up when he smelled food. “Hi, Sanji! Come on in!”

Sanji closed the door and handed Luffy the food before he sat on the bed. Luffy dug in right away.

“So, what was it you wanted to talk about?” Luffy asked. “My brother’s not being an ass to you, is he?”

Sanji let out a soft chuckle and shook his head. “No. But I do wanna talk about Ace,” he said. “Will you promise me you won’t… judge me?”

“C’mon, Sanji. You know I never judge anyone!” Luffy pointed his fork. “Unless they do something really bad to my family and friends.”

“True.” Sanji looked down at his fidgeting hands in his lap. Where to begin? “I told Ace that I… hadn’t had my first kiss yet, so he offered to kiss me,” he said. “And after some thinking, I let him.”

“Ooh, how’d that go?” Luffy asked with a wiggle of his eyebrows. 

Sanji hadn’t seen it, and if he had, he’d probably give Luffy a glare. “It was nice, I guess?” Stop lying. You loved it way more than you anticipated, which was the reason you were here in the first place. “The problem wasn’t the kiss.”

Sabo snuck up the stairs as quietly as he could. He didn’t like to eavesdrop… okay, that was a lie. He was just concerned about his brother (he was invested in this story). He pressed his ear to the door to listen. The voice was muffled, but he could still understand what was being said.

“Then what’s wrong?”

Sanji sighed. “I promised Ace that we would go back to being friends, but I kinda… sorta… maybe have a crush on him now. I think.” There was a pause. “Stop looking at me like that! I don’t know for sure.”

Sabo’s eyes went wide. Oh shit. So it’d gone _well._ Good for them. 

“Well, why do you think you do have a crush on him?”

“I don’t know, I just…” Another sigh. “I can’t stop thinking about him, and I feel the same way I did when I’d get crushes in high school. The butterflies in my stomach, my face feels all warm… I really wanna kiss him again.”

“Oh, dude, you totally have a crush on him!” Luffy laughed. “What are you gonna do about it?”

“Probably avoid him forever.”

Sabo almost burst through the door to protest, but Luffy said what was on his mind.

“What! You can’t do that! You gotta tell him!”

Sabo wanted to hear how Sanji was going to respond, but he jumped when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He walked away from the door to go to his room instead.

Ace 🔥  
  
is sanji over there?  


The blond thought about how he should answer. Should he be honest, or should he respect Sanji’s feelings? 

Ace 🔥  
  
is sanji over there?  
nope. why?  
i kissed him yesterday and hes been actin all strange since and now hes not home even though i know he doesnt have work today  
maybe he got called in? restaurants don’t close on the weekends, dude. Zeff probably needed help.  
maybe  
im kinda just freakin out about the whole thing  
what if i actually ruined our friendship like i was afraid was gonna happen  
chill. try texting him and go from there.  
okay  


After a minute, Sabo heard Sanji stop talking, which he assumed meant he got the text. When Sanji continued to speak and probably didn’t reply back, that’s when Sabo decided he should take action. He and Luffy had to force the two to talk to each other and not have mediators. The love birds were going to get nowhere like that.

Sabo walked back to Luffy’s door and knocked. After some hesitation and a “Come in!” from Luffy, he opened the door. “Hey, you mind if I steal Luf from you for a sec?” he asked Sanji.

Sanji, who was doing his best to look as casual as possible, shook his head. “No, go ahead.” He could just sit here and stare at Ace’s text instead.

“Sweet.” Sabo motioned for Luffy to follow him as he made his way out the door. Once the two were out, he closed the door and led him downstairs so Sanji wouldn’t hear them talking.

“Am I in trouble?” Luffy asked.

“No, I need you to help me with a plan I have,” Sabo whispered. “It’s about this whole Ace and Sanji thing.”

Luffy raised his eyebrows. “Were you eavesdropping again?”

Sabo crossed his arms. “Maybe. But I have a good excuse this time.”

“Mhm.”

“I already knew about Ace kissing Sanji. You know how I went over there yesterday? That’s why,” Sabo said. “Ace was nervous about ruining their friendship because he has a crush on Sanji.”

Luffy gasped. “Ace has a crush on--”

“Shhh!”

“Ace has a crush on Sanji?” Luffy asked at a much lower volume. “Then why is Sanji afraid of telling Ace how he feels?”

“Because neither of them knows they’re crushing on each other.”

“Ohh!” Luffy glanced at the stairs before looking back at Sabo. “So what’s your plan?”

* * *

Luffy made his way back to his room where Sanji was now sitting at the desk and had taken over the game (with Luffy’s permission). “Okay, I’m back,” he said. He walked over to stand beside the blond. “What are you building?”

“I’m building the Baratie to the best of my ability,” Sanji said with a smile. “It’s a little hard with the limited resources, but… I think it’s coming out pretty good so far.”

Luffy laughed. “It looks great! You should get some of the animals to work in the kitchen!”

Sanji laughed as well. “That’s a good idea. Maybe I can bring my laptop over next time and we can work on it together,” he said. He turned the chair so he could stand and let Luffy sit back down. “What did Sabo call you out for?”

Luffy sat down, then tilted his head. “Hm? Oh, um…” He needed an excuse. “He just asked if I wanted any of his steak, but I told him that you made me some and that was enough for me!”

Sabo was currently putting said steak into the fridge so it wasn’t in plain sight. He could enjoy it later; right now, he needed to get his plan rolling. He texted Ace to ask if he was free to hang out with Luffy as a way to keep his mind off of things, and when he agreed, Sabo told him he could come over whenever he was ready. Soon, preferably. 

Still, he had to wait for Ace to actually drive here anyway, so he went over his plan in his head: Luffy was keeping Sanji busy so he would stay there for as long as possible, he would call Luffy out of his room again, Luffy would hide so Ace wouldn’t see him, and Ace and Sanji would be forced to communicate with each other. It was damn frustrating for everyone involved. They needed that push.

Ah, but he’d forgotten one crucial piece of information.

Luffy was terrible with following instructions, especially in the form of a plan.

A minute before Sabo was expecting Ace to be arriving, he heard a pair of footsteps coming down the stairs. It was Luffy and Sanji. Sabo gave a glare to the former, but covered it up with a smile. “Where are you two headed?”

“Sanji wanted some water, so we’re going to the kitchen!” Luffy said, seemingly forgetting the entire conversation they’d had earlier.

“And you both had to come down here?” Sabo asked. 

“I’m just going to grab a glass quickly, and I’ll be out of your hair,” Sanji reassured. 

Sabo hummed and tried to keep his cool. “No worries.” Maybe they would be back upstairs before Ace got here. Maybe the plan wasn’t ruined. Maybe--

The doorbell rang. It was already too late. Sabo stood in place, which made Sanji confused.

“Aren’t you going to get that?”

“In a moment,” Sabo said, like a dumbass. He couldn’t have come up with a better excuse??

Sanji furrowed his brow, but thanked Luffy for the water. Just as they were about to go back upstairs, the doorbell rang again.

“Hey, Sabo!” a familiar voice called. “Kinda unfair that you get mad at _me_ for makin’ you wait! You’re the one who invited me, so are you gonna let me in or not?”

Both Sabo and Sanji froze, but for entirely different reasons. Sanji had been hoping that Ace wouldn’t find him here, and he glared at a guilty-looking Sabo for breaking the promise they’d made.

Sabo wasn’t going to become a sad puppy who got caught in trouble, no. He was going to stand his ground. He marched over to the door and opened it wide enough for Ace to step inside.

“What, did I catch you at the wrong time? You in the bathroom or somethin’?” Ace asked with a chuckle. His smile was wiped right away the moment he saw Sanji staring back at him. He looked back at Sabo, then at Luffy, and at Sanji once again. “You were here the whole time?”

Sanji averted his gaze. “What’s it to you? I gotta report to you any time I leave the house?”

Ace scoffed. “No, but I was worried ‘cause you’re usually home on the weekends and you weren’t answering my texts,” he said. “I thought we were gonna talk about what happened yesterday.”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Sanji lied.

“Yes there is! You’ve been acting weird ever since,” Ace said. “You can’t just avoid me forever, Sanji. We live in the same fucking house.”

Sanji pushed past Ace to scold Sabo. “I told you not to tell him I was here! Now we’re in this big mess because of you!”

“Because of _me?”_ Sabo asked, his voice raising in volume. “You two are the ones who haven’t been communicating with each other! Instead, you’ve been using me and Luffy as the mediators. If you would just be honest with each other, then you could save everyone a whole lot of trouble.”

“What are you talking about?” Sanji snapped back, then looked back at Ace. “Did you talk to him about this?”

“I talked to him before it happened ‘cause I was afraid of it ruinin’ our friendship.”

“I already told you it wouldn’t!”

“Yeah, and look at how we turned out!” Ace threw his hands in the air. He looked like he was holding back tears from both frustration and fear. This was it. This was the end of their friendship. “You’re avoidin’ me! What happened to goin’ back to normal?”

“I can’t go back to normal after that, Ace!”

“And why the fuck not?”

“Because I fell in love with you!”

Sanji’s eyes went wide when he realized he’d blurted that out, and the whole room went silent. Despite Ace staring back at him with an equally surprised expression, he decided to continue speaking. Might as well. Everything was already going to shit anyway.

“When we kissed yesterday, I… I felt really… warm.” Sanji took a deep breath. “A-and my heart was beating really fast and I was all shaky, but it wasn’t because I was scared of the kiss or that you would ruin anything. I felt really safe with you.” He got a little teary-eyed, so he looked down. If only he’d been brave enough to admit this when it wasn’t too late. “I was actually scared because I’d promised you that we could go back to being friends.”

“Sanji…”

“I want to be more than that.”

“Sanji,” Ace said again, softly. He carefully approached the cook and used a gentle finger under his chin to tilt his face up. “I feel the same way.”

Sanji looked back up at him with a dumbfounded expression. “What?” he asked. His voice was barely above a whisper, as if questioning it too loud would negate what Ace had said. “Me?”

Ace couldn’t help but chuckle. He used his other hand to wipe the stray tear from Sanji’s cheek with his thumb. “Yes, you,” he said. “I’ve been in love with you… this entire time. The reason I went to Sabo was ‘cause he already knew about my feelin’s when I should’ve just told _you._ I’m sorry we got into this whole mess.”

Sanji shook his head. “It’s not your fault. We both had a part in it.” He turned his head with the intention of apologizing to Sabo, but raised his eyebrows when he saw that both of Ace’s brothers had snuck away. “So… what should we do now?” he asked as he looked back at Ace.

Ace shrugged. “We could… start over,” he said. “Maybe go on a date. Kiss again.”

Sanji blushed as he nodded. “I’d like that a lot.”

“Good.” Ace smiled and nodded towards the door. “Let’s get out of here. Maybe we can have a date of sorts.” He hesitated before he reached for Sanji’s hand, kissed the back of it, then led him out so they could head back home. Bold moves were easier now that there was nothing to be afraid of.

From the kitchen, Sabo and Luffy peeked out and then gave each other a high-five. Mission accomplished.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ace and Sanji have their first date.

The two entered the house, filling the air with giggles. They weren’t laughing at anything in particular other than the cozy feeling they both felt after too long of a stressful time. Their fingers were interlocked once again. It’s how they belonged.

“So… Um.” Sanji averted his gaze, but the smile never left his face. “I’ve never done this before. Obviously. What should we do for our date?”

Ace smiled, his own gaze tracing Sanji’s features. He’d missed the blond looking so happy. The fact that the giddiness was over _him_ and not a random girl made him feel like a little boy in a candy store. “Well, we don’t have to follow any sorta rules,” he said. “We could do whatever we want.”

Sanji nodded. “Okay.” He looked back up when Ace reached to hold his other hand as well. “Could we maybe… have an at-home date, and then once we get used to things, we can have a proper first date?”

“Darlin’, any date with you is a proper date,” Ace said.

Sanji would’ve melted right then and there, but he had a date to attend. “Maybe we can bake something together,” he said, his voice a little shaky and his cheeks flushing pink. “And then watch a movie once we’re done?”

“I love that idea,” Ace said. “You can show off your bakin’ skills and maybe teach me somethin’. I promise I won’t kiss you through the whole movie if you don’t wanna do that.”

Sanji gulped. His first instinct would’ve been to laugh it off and avoid revealing how he really felt about that idea, but he didn’t want to start another mess. He’d learned from the last time. “I… want to do that,” he said.

Ace raised his eyebrows, but his smile was still present. “So do I.”

Sanji nodded. On the outside, he was fidgeting on his feet. On the inside, fireworks were going off and his entire being was vibrating. He was already head-over-heels for Ace. After a moment of just… gazing at each other, he cleared his throat and gestured towards the kitchen. “Let’s go, um… Do cookies sound good to you?”

“They sound amazin’ to me.” Ace lifted both of Sanji’s hands to his lips to press a gentle kiss to the back of each one. “Lead the way.”

Sanji squeaked, but managed to lead him to the kitchen. He was very insistent on them washing their hands before they even _thought_ about baking, even if it was just him and Ace eating the cookies. 

Of course, Ace followed along. He wanted to encourage Sanji to really get into his element, since this was his _thing._ Plus, seeing the blond get all passionate always made his heart flutter.

While Ace washed his hands, Sanji walked around the kitchen to grab any and all of the materials they would need. Flour, sugar, eggs… Ace’s normal method was to use an already-made cookie mix that he’d just have to add an ingredient or two to, but his usual impatient nature for this kind of thing melted away and was replaced with excitement of baking with Sanji.

“Could you preheat the oven at 350?” Sanji asked. Then, after a pause: “...Dear.”

Ace giggled. “Of course I can, darling.” He went over to the oven to do just that, practically skipping with joy. “Say, you think these cookies’ll be as sweet as you?”

Sanji, who had started to cream some of the ingredients, looked up with a smile. His blush was a perfect shade to match Ace’s. “Maybe we could test it. Because you’re pretty sweet yourself.”

Ace walked back over to Sanji as he hummed in response. He was definitely okay with that idea. As he stood behind the blond, his arms snaked around his waist and he rested his chin on his shoulder so he could watch. “This okay?”

Sanji was pleasantly surprised to feel Ace’s warm body pressed against his. “Wow,” he breathed out, thinking out loud. He leaned back a little. “More than okay.”

“Mm, good,” Ace said with another giggle. 

Surprisingly, he was quiet as he listened to Sanji explain what he was doing. He was more than happy to watch the whole time and occasionally help, since Sanji looked especially pretty when the excitement lit up his face. When the stirring was nearly done, that’s when Ace spoke again.

“You smell nice.”

Sanji raised an eyebrow, then averted his gaze with a sheepish smile. “I think that’s just the cookies, Ace.”

Ace shook his head and brought his face closer to Sanji’s neck to take it in. “No, it’s you,” he said. “It’s that vanilla soap you use all the time. I’ve always thought you smelled nice, but I never had the chance to say it.”

Sanji shivered at the feeling of Ace’s breath on his skin. “You could’ve said it to me any time,” he said with a chuckle. “You can compliment friends, you know.”

“I know that,” Ace said. “But… it wouldn’t have been the same. You probably would’ve just thanked me and moved on instead of givin’ me that absolutely adorable reaction you just did.” He hugged the blond tighter. 

“Okay, fair point,” Sanji said with a giggle. He fidgeted with the bowl. “You can use that soap if you wanna smell like me.”

Ace smiled and lifted his head to look at the other’s face. “Yeah? What about… wearin’ your clothes, ‘cause those smell like you?” He paused. “Are we movin’ too fast?”

Sanji shrugged before he reached for a tray to start putting cookie dough balls onto it. “Considering you’ve been waiting for years and I can’t chill when I’m in love, I’d say we can do whatever we want,” he said. “I think you’d look cute in my clothes… if you can even fit.”

“What, do you think my meaty muscles won’t fit in your tight sleeves?”

Sanji snickered. “You’re unbelievable,” he said. “Why don’t you help me make cookies?”

“You got it, babe.”

With more lovey-dovey compliments and flirty touches, the cookies made it into the oven. Ace made up the lack of work by grabbing as many pillows and blankets as they had, and bringing them to the couch. Sanji brought the cookies in and set the plate onto the coffee table - he’d put way more thought into the presentation of the cookies than he needed to.

“That looks really comfy,” Sanji said.

Ace looked proud of himself. “Yeah, I figured it’d be good for kissin’ and cuddlin’ in.” He resisted the urge to grab a cookie, since he wanted it to be part of the entire experience. Instead, he gestured to the couch. “Shall we?”

“We shall.” Sanji took Ace’s hand so they could both snuggle under the blankets before he grabbed the TV remote. “Any idea what you’d wanna watch?”

Ace shrugged. “I’m feelin’ too distracted to think clearly, darlin’,” he said, already gazing at Sanji like he was an angel. “All I wanna watch is you. Why don’t you choose?”

Sanji blushed and let out a giggle. “I can just put on something random because I’m not sure what to watch.” He scrolled until he landed on some romance movie, then pushed play so he could reach for a cookie.

Ace reached for one as well, but stopped when Sanji held the cookie up to his lips. _Oh._ He held up his own cookie to the blond’s lips so they could feed each other. Without much thought, he made sure to add a couple kisses to Sanji’s fingers before he pulled away. “Damn. You always do such a good job.” His mouth was still full, but he managed not to get crumbs everywhere. “But that’s not surprisin’ to me.”

Sanji hummed in agreement. “We both made them,” he said. “So _we_ did a good job.”

Ace chuckled. “I only held you the entire time. That hardly counts as makin’ cookies.”

“There’s extra love in them. Trust me, I’m a chef.”

Ace smiled and leaned in to take another bite. “You’re right, I can taste it now. Nice n’sweet.” 

Then, the room went comfortably quiet, save for the sounds coming from the television. The moment felt almost as sappy as the movie: time seemed to slow down and it felt like they were the only two on the Earth. Ace’s eyes darted down to Sanji’s lips, then up to his eyes, then back to his lips…

“I bet you taste sweeter, though.”

Sanji let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. He stumbled on his words for a moment, and when he failed to get a coherent sentence out, he decided to take action instead. His free hand went up to cup Ace’s cheek as he closed his eyes and leaned in. 

He could’ve sworn their lips fit perfectly together. 

Ace hummed softly, the vibration sending a shiver down the other’s spine. Sanji blindly reached to put the rest of the cookie down on the table before he made his next move. His now free hand rested on Ace’s chest to help guide him back, slowly moving until Sanji was resting on top of him with their chests delicately brushing against each other.

It was a little clumsy, but he still did it as if he was a professional already. He felt so… safe with Ace that acting on impulse wasn’t as scary. He knew that Ace wouldn’t judge him for not knowing what the hell he was doing, but he must’ve done something right when he felt Ace hum again. Ace’s hands found Sanji’s hips to help him straddle his thighs. 

The movie was drowned out with their pounding hearts, and the cookies were long forgotten. When they needed to catch a breath, they only pulled away a mere centimeter. 

“A gorgeous chef and a good kisser?” Ace asked, slightly breathless. He could feel the blush on his cheeks burning with how intensely he felt. “I must’a won the lottery.”

Sanji let out another squeak. He forced himself to open his eyes, only to be met with a half-lidded gaze. How could someone still look so pretty when his hair was a mess against the pillow? “You… you think I’m a good kisser?”

“Honestly, the best I’ve ever had.”

Confetti went off in Sanji’s head. The best? _Best?_ Only his second kiss ever, and he had already beaten out the ones who’ve kissed Ace before? “...Really?”

“Really, really.” Ace moved a hand to cup Sanji’s chin. “Could you kiss me again?”

Sanji smiled and nodded. “Anything for you.” With much more confidence than before, he leaned down to kiss Ace. It was brief because he could feel himself quickly getting overwhelmed with excitement, but he still made sure to put just as much love into it. When he pressed their foreheads together, he could feel Ace tucking some hair behind his ear. 

“Y’know, when we first kissed, I was a mess.” Ace giggled. “I was jumpin’ up and down. That’s why I didn’t fall asleep like I said I was gonna. ‘Cause I couldn’t. You were on my mind, and when I walked into the kitchen to see you sittin’ there, a song was playin’ on my phone that reminds me of you.”

“There’s a song that reminds you of me?”

Ace slid his hands so his arms could wrap around Sanji’s waist, holding him closer. “Yeah, it’s about kissin’ in the kitchen, but anyway…” He cleared his throat. “I think that’s when I was startin’ to feel better about the whole thing.”

“Until I almost ruined it again.”

Ace snickered. “Okay, we were both really nervous and probably should’ve communicated better.”

Sanji hummed in agreement. “Perhaps.” He let out a sigh. “Unlike you, I wasn’t excited after the kiss like you were. ...Well, I mean, I _was,_ but it was more that I realized I liked you more than a friend after promising to just be friends with you and I was freaking out.”

Ace nodded. “At least Sabo and Luffy had our backs, even if we were too chicken to act on how we felt.”

“True. I still feel bad about getting mad at Sabo.”

“I’m sure he forgives you. He’s not gonna hold a grudge against you for bein’ scared.”

“I guess so.”

There was another silence while Ace reached for the remote to turn the television off. Neither of them were going to pay attention to it anyway, and he didn’t want any distractions from Sanji.

“Not to be sappy,” Ace began, “but I’m happy I waited instead of jumpin’ into things. Like, it sucks that years went by where I wasn’t this physically close to you and I was basically hidin’ my full emotions, but… it feels more special knowin’ you felt the same right away.”

“Yeah,” Sanji said with another little nod. “Plus, we have all this time now to make up for it.”

Ace could’ve died a happy man after hearing that sentence alone. He knew this wasn’t just a one-time thing, but Sanji acknowledging out loud that they had a future together made him teary-eyed. “And you know I’m not the kinda guy to be too vulnerable,” he continued. “But it feels so right with you. Always has.”

“Ace, you’re gonna make me cry.”

Ace let out a soft laugh, his tears already running down his cheeks. “I’m just so happy.” His voice cracked with the last word. “If not even a day has passed by and I already feel like this, then I’m excited to spend forever with you.”

Sanji smiled and hid his face in the crook of Ace’s neck. “I’m excited to spend forever with you, too,” he said. “Forever and ever.”

When Ace heard a yawn, he pulled one of the blankets up over them and snuggled in close. All of the excitement from the day had him feeling sleepy as well. “Mm, well… I do,” he said with a giggle. Apparently, implying marriage wasn’t moving too fast.

Sanji snorted. “I do. You dork.”

Ace just hummed in reply and let his eyes close. It wasn’t long before he drifted off into a peaceful sleep, content and warm. Both men dreamed about their next steps, like making one of the bedrooms their shared one. It was something Ace had in mind since day one of his crush: keeping the other safe with a loving embrace, limbs tangled together and hearts beating in sync.

It felt right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!!!  
> They did it! I had a lot of fun with this fic, and I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you to everyone who's been giving it love! 💛


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